The Newer New Directions
by MsTaylorMaeClark
Summary: SYOC! Closed. It's been three years since the original New Directions graduated, and Mr. Schuester is looking for new members!
1. The Newer New Directions

Mr. Schuester walked into school on the first day with a bad feeling. It had been three years since all of the original Glee Club members had graduated, and he has no new members.

Sue, who was now principal of McKinley, told him that she would have to shut down the club if he didn't get any new members and win Regionals. She was more supportive of the arts these days, but even Will had to admit that it was a waste of money.

He walked by the music room, and heard a voice he had never heard before. It belonged to a small girl with curly brown hair. She heard him enter the room, and stopped playing the piano. She smiled a bright smile and said, "Hello, Mr. Schuester! I would like to audition for Glee Club."

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Hi everyone! This is my first story, and it's a SYOC! The form is on my profile, so the story won't get deleted. **Please send your form in a PM! **I can not stress enough how important it is that it is in a PM, because I like for people to be surprised. I will probably select about 5 main characters, 6 supporting characters, and a few extras to say a few lines. I have a female OC for the story, and she will be a main character in the story. I am looking for original characters who have unique personalities! Please give a lot of detail and a lot of story lines, your chances of getting picked will be much higher! I am also looking for a beta, so PM me if you are interested in that! Thank you for reading and **Good luck!**


	2. Update!

I know what you guys are thinking, and I'm just as surprised that I'm updating already! This is not a chapter or a list of who made it, but it's an update of what I'm looking for.** Please read the whole thing! There are things I need before I can start the story.**

I definitely wouldn't have guessed I would get this many guys, and I don't need any more popular guys unless they are bullies. I am really looking for some gay guys, you're chances of getting in will be better if you send one in.

I am looking for girls more than guys as of right now. I need Cheerios, bullies, and quiet girls. I have theater girls and a few mean ones, but I need some different personalities. Any lesbian girl probably has a good chance of getting in now, as well.

Thank you for submitting characters so far! If you have already submitted one, feel free to submit more! I will probably post an official list tomorrow, as long as I get the characters I am looking for. Remember to send submissions in a PM!

**If you have already submitted a character, please read!** I am in need of suggestions for themes for a week in Glee Club! I have a few ideas, but would love to hear yours. Please send them in a PM to me, I would appreciate this a lot!

On a side note, I am still looking for a beta. I have had one offer, but they haven't gotten back to me for sure yet. Please PM me and let me know if you are interested! Thank you for reading this long author's note, and I am looking forward to the start of this story!


	3. Final Cast List!

Before you read below, I would like to say a huge **thank you** to everyone who submitted a character! They were all great, but I can only pick so many of them. If your character is a main character, they will get the most story lines. If they're supporting, their part in the story will vary, but PM me and I can let you know a bit more. And if your character is an extra, they will have a few lines every now and then.

Now that all of that is cleared up, I am very excited for the story to start! I should be able to update quickly, but my schedule changes a lot, but I plan  
on trying my hardest!

One last thank you goes to **MaldrianLuver13** for all the help with this story so far! I can't thank you enough!

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**Main Characters:**

McKenzie Sparks

Eric Brooks

Dallas Brooks

Kaylie Cruz

Marissa Logan

James Masterson

Abigail Cline

Emmett Cohen

Bridgette Cohen

Sydney Tanner

Ariella Reynolds

**Supporting Characters:**

Aubrey Choi

Anthony Cline

Stephanie Lewis

Hollis Hamen

Andrew Reynolds

Zane Guthary

Brooklyn Hernandez

Melanie Choi

**Extras:**

Michael Blake

Harlem Harmen

Tessanne Taylor

Alyssa Monroe


	4. Introductions Part One

Here is the first introduction chapter! Don't worry if your character is not in this chapter, there are two more introduction chapters. I hope you like it, and thanks again for letting me use your amazing characters! **Please review!**

Thank you **MaldrianLuver13** and **my pain be creepin** for all the help and wonderful advice! I will never be able to thank you enough!

* * *

Will would be lying if he said he wasn't a little stunned due to seeing that girl sitting on the piano bench; she just looked so energetic and at ease with what she was playing, he'd never expect to see that type of reaction under their current circumstances. To be honest, Will didn't even know what to say to the young student, so he decided to let her speak first.

"My name is McKenzie Maria Sparks, but please call me Kenzie. I am here to join the New Directions!" The brunette exhibited cheerfully.

Will was very surprised to see someone with so much enthusiasm for Glee Club, but he knew he had to break the news to her. "McKenzie," he started.

"Kenzie," she corrected.

"Kenzie," he repeated, "New Directions doesn't exist anymore."

The girl looked confused, and she stood up. Will was shocked at how small she was, but figured it would be best if he didn't say anything. "Please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't New Directions win Nationals a few years back?"

Will replied, sensing the girl's unawareness to the whole situation. "Look, Kenzie. The Glee Club isn't very popular here. In fact, the entire school hates us. There is no interest. The group of kids that made it to Nationals was a special group. I just don't think it's possible to do it again. I'm so sorry."

Will expected to see the girl looking sad, or at least lose some confidence, but instead she still had that confident smile firmly plastered on her face. "I'll see what I can do about that," she said. Will watched her walk away, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.

That night, Kenzie stayed up late designing and printing out piles of flyers advertising the Glee Club and sign-up sheets for New Directions. Her dad had raised an eyebrow when he'd saw the multicolored papers flung around her room, but just chuckled and kissed her, wishing her luck.

The next day, Kenzie was walking down the hallway with a stack of sign-up sheets in her hand. She had just posted one on the wall and was turning around when she crashed into something. She would have hit the ground, but two strong arms wrapped around her waist and caught her before she fell to the floor. She looked up into the prettiest blue eyes she had ever seen and managed to mumble out the only thing she could think of that wouldn't make her sound like a total klutz. "Hi, my name is Kenzie."

The boy helped her back on her feet, and shook her hand, "I'm Eric. I'm new here at McKinley."

They both had already started picking up sheets before she replied, "Me too. I just moved here from Tennessee." Kenzie stood up, and saw him look her over. The expression on his face explained it all. "I know, I'm short. I have a growth disorder," the 4'11 sophomore said bluntly, wondering how long it was going to take for people to get used to her size. She probably looked smaller than she actually was to him, considering that he was definitely over six foot.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. I'm promise." He looked at her and paused, she loved the way he looked at her, no boy had ever looked at her like that before. Then started up again, "Anyways, I saw that these were sign-up sheets for a Glee Club. I like to perform, and was wondering if there might be room for me?"

She mulled it over for a second, and realized he looked like the type of guy who got what he wanted. So she knew she couldn't make this easy for him. "I'll make you a deal. If you can get three other people to join, I will let you audition. Deal?"

Eric didn't hesitate to reply, never being able to pass up a challenge. "Deal."

As he was walking away, he called out, "See you later, Kenz!" The brunette couldn't help but turn away and blush. She knew she wasn't going to be able to get him off her mind for the rest of the day.

Eric too seemed to be caught in a similar predicament, now noticing himself trying to clear his head of the pretty girl with the gorgeous green eyes. He already had a girlfriend, or whatever Marissa was, and he needed to find her. He saw her standing at her locker talking to a few other girls. "Hello ladies," he said to the four girls all dressed in their red cheerleading uniforms.

"Hello, Eric," Marissa replied, trying to ignore the fact that all of her friends were giggling about him. "Why don't you guys go talk about how cute my boyfriend is somewhere else, okay? Go," She demanded. The girls quickly left, but Eric saw one of them (he thought her name was Stephanie) turn around to blow him a kiss. "Now, Eric. What do you want?"

He knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it was worth a try. "Mari, I need you to do something with me. You see, there's this thing called Glee Club, and-"

"Really, Eric? Glee Club?" The red-headed cheerio decided to stop him right there, not liking where this conversation was going at all. "I know, you're new here, that's why I'm going to explain something to you. It's social suicide for everyone, let alone the co-captain of the Cheerios and the hottest new hunk in the and you have the potential to be prom king and queen. It's your senior year, and you can't tell me you don't want to leave high school knowing you were on top. Glee Club is going to ruin all that. If you join, people will think you like guys. And, even worse, they will think that I'm your beard. Hell, they might even think that I like girls!" Mari lowered her voice and looked around to see if anyone had noticed her melodramatic outburst. She probably shouldn't really be talking so loud, and decided to end the conversation there. This caused Eric to question why.

He gave her a kiss and grabbed her hand. "Look, Mari. You know that you are my girl, and I would do anything to make you happy. I really want to do this, and I need you to audition with me. If it brings down our popularity, we can quit. I promise, okay?"

She smiled up at him, he really was a great guy. "Okay. I'll do it. I bet I can get some of my friends to join too. But if there's even the slightest possibility of me getting a slushie in the face, I'll be done singing and dancing with those losers for good." She kissed him and said, "You really are something special, Eric." As she walked back to her friends, the only thing Eric could think about was how a certain tiny green-eyed girl might also be "something special".

Dallas was sitting in the cafeteria with all of the jocks. He had Cheerios fawning over him like he was a movie star, and he knew he and his brother were already the most popular guys at McKinley. Speaking of his brother, Eric walked into the lunchroom looking for someone. Dallas excused himself from his group of friends, and walked over to his brother. "Hey, dude. What's up?"

Eric looked happy to see his brother, which was rather odd. "Hey, Dallas. Look, I really need you to do me a favor, okay?"

"Sure, bro. What is it?"

Eric hesitated, and Dallas suddenly became worried. "Dallas, I need you to audition for Glee Club with me."

This put Dallas a little off guard, yet he managed to reply back nonetheless. "Come on, Eric. I hate performing, you know that. You're the one who is big into that kind of stuff. Plus, it would ruin my reputation here. I can't do it."

Eric was quick with a comeback, "You remember that time when we were playing football in the house? More specifically, the time you broke mom's special lamp? Yeah well, she'll know that it wasn't an accident unless I see your name on that sign-up sheet. You got me?" Dallas realized he didn't have a choice anymore, and agreed. Maybe he will even meet a girl he actually likes.


	5. Introductions Part Two

Eric was looking around the building for his last recruit. He found Andrew and his little sister Ariella standing outside near the football bleachers. "Hey, guys. I need your help with something." Eric had met Andrew yesterday when he'd had locker problems and the easygoing senior had helped him out with a quick smile. They'd then continued to chat about popular music. Andrew'd mentioned that he played the guitar, which Eric had was one of the only seniors Eric had met who he'd actually liked.

"What's up? I'm sure me and Ari would be more than happy to offer our support."

This was going better than Eric had originally thought, "Would you be willing to join Glee Club? We talked about music yesterday, and I know the club likes to use many different genres, so I think you guys would add a well needed amount of variety to the club. What do you say, care to help a guy out?"

Andrew looked down at his little sister, and she shrugged. "Sure, we both will."

After Eric left, Ariella waved goodbye to her brother and headed to the cafeteria to throw away her lunch. Quite a few students had already finished and dispersed to the library or their next classes, but almost all the jocks and cheerleaders were still eating.

She heard a familiar tap-tap-tap of a cane behind her and turned around to see a tall brown-haired junior walking into the cafeteria. "Hey Emmett," she said. "It's Ariella."

"Oh. Hi, Ari," Emmett replied, lifting his head up in the general direction of her voice. His eyes darted around aimlessly.

"Do you need help?" she asked him, coming towards him and placing a hand on his shoulder gently. He was a really nice guy who'd been blind for as long as Ari had known him, which, granted, wasn't very long. He'd mentioned a car accident before, so Ari assumed that he hadn't been born blind, but he seemed to have adjusted amazingly well.

His bright blue eyes flickered around aimlessly before settling somewhere a little to the right of Ariella. "I'm okay," he said, shrugging slightly. "But thanks for the offer."

"All right," Ari replied. "I'll see you around, then."

She watched him make his way to a table and realized, a tight ball of dread forming in her stomach, that a couple of basketball jocks were also making the way to his table.

The jocks came up behind him, and just as he was about to sit down they pulled his chair out from under him and he fell to the floor, hitting his body hard against the tile flooring of the cafeteria. Ariella ran and helped him up as delicately as she possibly could, ignoring the pool of students around them laughing and pointing at the crude display of harassment just demonstrated in front of everyone. "I'm so sorry Emmett, I don't know why they do this to you."

Just then his sister, Bridgette, also came out from the sea of students to help defend her brother against the arrogant football jocks. She followed after them and grabbed one of them by the shoulder, turning him around to face her head on. "Hey, why did you just do that? Is that the cool thing now, to be mean to a blind kid who can't even defend himself? I'm glad to see that you've set such high standards for yourself, maybe now the girls at this school won't scream and run away when you walk down the hallway."

"Yeah, Emmett may be blind but at least he's not a dimwitted, contumacious douchebag." Ariella added in. This made Bridgette go wide-eyed and back off a bit. It was okay for her to say that kind of stuff because she hung out with them and they probably wouldn't even care since she's popular, but for someone like Ariella to say that...they definitely weren't going to take it very lightly.

They all glared at her, though some of the guys actually looked intimated. A boy named Michael spoke up, "Shut up. At least people actually like us. You're just a little loner with no friends. How does that feel?"

Ariella would never actually admit it, but things like that hurt. Stephanie walked up to the boys, and glanced at Ariella like she was a piece of garbage. "You know, Ariella, you really have no right to judge people. It's painfully obvious to all of us that you will die a virgin. You've never even been kissed, and it's pretty obvious why." Ariella was holding back the tears now, but she knew she had to stay strong. "The only thing you will ever be is a trophy wife. Or a stripper, either way. Emmett may actually make it out of this town, and so will I. But you will live here forever, and die a Lima Loser."

All of the jocks had smirks on their faces by now and Bridgette just stood there not saying anything, arms crossed and eyes cast down towards the floor. She had never made it a point prior to stand up to her friends, and she wasn't about to start now. Ariella on the other hand felt completely humiliated and walked off, she knew she couldn't handle any more insults today.

After the situation in the cafeteria was finally over, Bridgette helped Emmett outside and they sat down to talk on a nearby bench. He was absolutely humiliated, and still couldn't understand why people were so mean to him all the time. "Emmett, are you okay?" His sister asked in a quiet voice.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" The blind boy replied, not even acknowledging what went down just a few minutes ago.

Bridgette looked down at her hands and continued, "Em, I'm really sorry. I should have said something or stopped them, but I-"

"You couldn't. I know that's what you're going to say. But I don't want to hear it anymore. You and I both know that you care more about your reputation and how many friends you have than me."

Bridgette looked extremely offended, and she wasn't about to back down from voicing her far more altered opinion. "Excuse me? As far as I could tell I was trying to defend you. But apparently you have your head so far up your own ass that you can't realize when people are genuinely trying to help you."

"Is that what that was? I mean I know I'm blind, but, I can still spot your bullshit from a mile away B. And I think you should learn to take your own advice sis, because you're one of the biggest hypocrites I've ever met. You're calling me oblivious? You don't even notice the terrible people you hang out with everyday. So don't be so quick to pass judgement, because you're worse than all of them and you know it."

"Oh of course, I'm such a bad person because I'm nice to everyone and I like being popular!" His sister replied while noticeable raising her voice in the process. "When did you become so freaking righteous Emmett?"

"See, that's the thing. You think your such a little saint! But in actuality, your conceited and fake. I mean, at least those popular girls know they're mean, but you just try to prove everything you do by saying you have no control over the situation. And that's what people don't like about you." Emmett got up from his spot on the bench and outstretched his cane so it could reach the sidewalk. "I'm done trying to argue with you Bridgette, you've made it very clear you don't care about my opinion, and I'm fine with that. So have a nice life."

Her brother walked away and left his sister sitting on the bench alone, with a lot to ponder over. Emmett warily paced down the hallway of the school and heard a group of popular girls talking. They always complained about the stupidest things, no way would they be able to handle being blind. Emmett knows he will never date a girl like that, and trust me, it IS for lack of trying.

Sydney, Tessanne, and Kaylie were all standing around Kaylie's locker. It had a big megaphone magnet on it, the one that only she and Marissa had for being co-captains of the Cheerios. Right now, they were discussing their other friends.

"Stephanie was flirting with this freshman at lunch-" Sydney said informatively before being cut off.

"Wow. She really does do anybody, doesn't she," Tessanne scoffed, idly checking her hair for split ends. "Does this look like a split end to you?"

Kaylie, deciding that this conversation was stupid, prompted to change the subject. "Coach Sylvester called me and Marissa into her office this morning. She said that Marissa was on the sign up sheet for Glee Club auditions! Isn't that weird? Glee Club is for weirdos and gay kids, it's like she's trying to ruin her reputation!"

Sydney thought for a minute, then replied, "It might be because of her new boyfriend, Eric. I heard he was asking people to sign up for it. He's totally hot, by the way."

"That's stupid. He and his brother just started to rule the school, and now they're just throwing it all away. Like, seriously," Tessanne decided. "They are ridiculously hot, though."

Kaylie started blushing at the mention of Eric's brother, Dallas. She had seen him when he competed in the X-Games, and had a huge crush on him. Tessanne didn't seem to notice though, and pulled the girl from her thoughts with a proposition, "Maybe we should join, too. Since Marissa is doing it, it could actually be pretty cool."

"No! What are you thinking? We would look like losers," Sydney said, disagreeing.

Just then, Marissa walked up. "Hey guys. I just heard a fantastic rumor that my boyfriend likes a little midget who is new at McKinley. That can't happen, because me and Eric are the power couple at this school. So, we are joining Gay Club, I mean, Glee Club to keep them as far apart as possible. Any questions?"

Kaylie spoke up again, "All of us?"

"Yes, Kaylie, all of us. And it'll be good for you too because everyone already knows about your little crush on Dallas. He's in the club, too." All the girls snickered, and Kaylie blushed. The only person that could intimidate her was Marissa.

The bell then rang, and the four girls walked to their next class, all wondering how long before the Glee Club ruined them all.


	6. Introductions Part Three

Important author's note at the end. Please read and review!

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While Abigail Cline was walking to her first period class the next day, a bright green flyer declaring the amazingness of Glee Club had caught her eye. She had always liked singing, especially during her cancer; it was a way to find hope and joy while struggling in a place where people usually felt hopeless and lost. While she was signing her name, a girl with hair that was just as curly as hers walked up to her.

"Hi," the girl said. "I'm McKenzie, call me Kenzie, and I'm really happy you are auditioning for Glee Club later today!"

"Hello Kenzie, I'm Abby. It's very nice to meet you, and I am excited about auditioning."

"Let me give you my phone number, just in case you ever need it. I have a feeling we will be very good friends," Kenzie said as she pulled her iPhone out of her pocket. "Just add your number here."

Abigail typed her number in to the phone, and sent a quick message to herself, so she could have the number, too. "Unfortunately, I have to go now. English is my first period and it's on the other side of the school. It was very nice to meet you, Kenzie," Abigail said.

"It was nice to meet you, too! Bye, Abby."

As Abby was walking away, she couldn't help but notice how much Kenzie seemed to care about Glee Club. It would be nice for Abby to have a friend like that.

Abigail was now sitting in her first period class. The teacher had just walked out of the room, and the new freshman were all talking amongst themselves.

Abigail looked to her right and saw a pretty Asian girl with her hair in a high ponytail. Abby was getting bored very quickly, so she gave up on organizing her binder and turned to the girl next to her that was tugging on the bottom of her shirt.

"Hello, my name is Abigail. What's yours?"

The girl looked up and smiled, "My name is Melanie, it's nice to meet you."

They shook hands, and Abigail started talking again. "What sports do you play?"

"Tennis, track, and hopefully I will make the cheer leading squad. I love to cheer, and I really want to walk around school in that red uniform. What sports do you play?" Melanie asked, curious to know how her answer would differ.

Abigail took notice of her high ponytail once more, connecting the dots inside her head. "I do track, also. And I'm auditioning for the glee club later today," Abigail said, smiling.

Melanie looked confused and asked, "Glee club? What's that?"

"You get to sing, dance, and perform. You probably will meet a lot of new friends, I've already met one because of it."

Melanie, not knowing that Glee might ruin her chances of becoming a Cheerio, replied, "That sounds pretty cool! I will sign up right after this class." The two girls grinned at each other, and Abby was really happy she was making so many friends.

The girl behind Melanie poked her. "So, are you gonna try out to be a Cheerio?"

Completely ignoring Abigail, the Asian girl turned around. "Of course!" she squealed. "I've, like, wanted to join ever since I got to Lima. Isn't it, like, so cool?"

Abigail decided to just leave Melanie and the other Cheerio wannabe to their own devices and turned to the girl on her left. She had a rather large nose but pretty blue eyes, which made up for it. She was currently listening to her iPod.

Abigail tapped her lightly on her shoulder. The girl looked up, surprised, and pulled out one earplug.

"Do you need anything?" she asked.

Abigail shook her head, noting the girl's confident posture and the way she talked. "No, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Abby."

The girl smiled brightly. "That's such a pretty name. I'm Hollis and my twin Harlem is sitting behind me."

The girl - Abigail assumed she was a girl, although she looked rather masculine - sitting behind Hollis waved. She looked back down at her notebook, so Abby turned her attention back on Hollis.

"Do you like to sing?" Abigail asked, motioning towards Hollis' iPod.

The pale brunette nodded enthusiastically. "I love singing! I love music and performing in general."

She was practically broadcasting her enthusiasm to the entire world. Several of their classmates glanced at her and then shrugged, probably deciding the weirdo wasn't worth their time.

"I signed up for Glee Club earlier," Abigail began a little tentatively, unsure if Hollis would meet this statement with the same ebullience as before.

"I did too!" Hollis practically shouted, gesturing frantically at her twin as well. "We both did! I think it would be an absolutely marvelous opportunity to help improve my singing skills and performance abilities."

"That's great," Abigail said, wondering exactly how much excitement the girl could take before she'd literally burst apart. "You do know that auditions are today, right?"

Hollis nodded so fast Abigail was surprised her head didn't blur. "Of course. It's right in my planner," she said, pointing to a fluffy pink notebook sitting on her desk.

The doorknob rattled, signifying their teacher's return, and the two girls immediately turned back to their desks, faking innocence when the teacher finally burst through the door.

Anthony was lounging in the hall, waiting to meet up with a couple of friends, when he noticed his sister walking up to him with a rather curious expression on her face.

He pushed himself off the wall. "What's up, Abs?"

She scowled at him. "Don't call me Abs," she said. "Are all the people in high school this weird?"

Anthony laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders casually. "Like how weird?"

"So, I hadn't really talked to anyone besides the kids I knew from the middle school. Then I get to first period, and there's all these wannabe jocks and valley girl cheerleaders - do valley girls even exist in Ohio? - and some girl who's absolutely insane and has a ridiculously loud voice."

"Trust me, Abs; it gets better," Anthony reassured her. "Probably 75% of the school remains crazy, but you find people who you can get along with and face the craziness together."

Abigail grimaced. "That sounds like a zombie apocalypse or something. By the way, do you know a girl named McKenzie Sparks?"

Anthony thought for a moment, trying to remember where he'd heard the name from. "I think," he said slowly. "Isn't she a new sophomore? Brown hair, tan, kind of short?" He thought she'd been rather cute, but he attributed that more to her height than anything. Or maybe because she was new and he may have been a little desperate. Crushing on your best friend tended to make you over-eager to find someone else to crush on instead.

His sister nodded. "Yeah. She talked to me this morning about Glee Club auditions which are later today. How much am I going to have to beg for you to audition with me?"

"You - me - sing - what?" Anthony stuttered, still thinking somewhat of his love life.

"Please?" His sister widened her eyes and pouted, trying to pull off her puppy-dog eyes that had always worked back when she was young and innocent and not in high school.

Anthony rolled his eyes. "You look stupid," he commented.

"Please?" she repeated. "I'll buy you anything you want or do whatever you want. It's just an audition and I know you're not a bad singer. Please?"

Anthony gave in. It was inevitable, he thought sadly; he always gave in to his sister's wishes when they hadn't been completely outrageous. Like the one time she told him to tattoo a detailed diagram of an eye on his arm.

"Alright, I'll do it," he sighed. "For you. But you owe me."

Abigail hugged him. "You're awesome. I'll definitely pay you back, but I gotta go to class now." She made a face. "Maybe math won't have as many weirdos as English."

Anthony was sitting outside on a bench during his free period, contemplating his screwed up love life, when he saw that new girl, McKenzie walk past.

During kindergarten, he'd met a blonde girl with mini anger issues and a weird fondness for wooden building blocks. As he'd also had a weird fondness for building blocks, the two of them had got into an epic fight over who got to play with them. They'd fought for a week or so. One day, the girl got fed up and nailed him on the head with a block. He'd started crying, she'd called him a sissy, and they became best friends afterwards. It was probably the weirdest friendship he'd ever made, but it had lasted the longest, too.

Stephanie had always been pretty, although he hadn't really noticed until middle school, and then he just decided that girls were icky and Stephanie had some cool best-friend protection that made her okay to play with but not okay to like. In high school, however, she suddenly became _popular_. There were guys all over her now and she didn't have time anymore for poor lowly Anthony.

He hoped that if he fell in love with some other girl, his odd, annoying feelings for Stephanie would dissipate and they'd go back to just being best friends. He had the feeling that, just maybe, Kenzie might fit the bill.

"Hey, Kenzie," he called.

She looked up from her phone and smiled.

"D'you wanna come sit here or something?"

He very nearly went and smacked his head against the wall for his stupidity. "If you want to," he tried to amend. "Because it's a nice place to sit and it looks like you'd get tired...okay, I'm just going to shut up now."

She laughed, checked her phone quickly, and then put it in her pocket. "Thanks," she said, walking over. "What's your name? I think I've seen you before, but I don't remember your name."

"I'm Anthony," he said. "I think you talked to my sister earlier today? Abigail?"

Her eyes lit up. "Yes. She was signing up for the Glee Club. Would you, by any chance, want to join as well?"

"Already did," he replied.

She smiled. "That's awesome! I can't wait for Glee Club to start. It's going to be so much fun."

They talked for the rest of the period. Kenzie thought Anthony was nice and a decent guy overall. She couldn't help comparing him to that boy with the blue eyes, though. She remembered that she'd be able to see him today at the auditions and smiled brightly at the thought.

Anthony, seeing the smile, thought that perhaps she was smiling about him and hoped that she liked him as much as he was starting to like her. She was nice, fun, and not Stephanie, which was a definite plus.

As Kenzie left, thanking him for inviting her to talk, he decided to text Stephanie to reinforce the "just friends" barrier in his mind.

_Hey Steph, what's up? Wanna come do hw at my house l8er?_

His phone buzzed almost immediately.

_Hey A. just hanging out w/football team + friends. sounds like a plan! i need all the help i can get from u mr. smarty :)_

He smiled, but wished that he could count as one of her in-school friends. Then he destroyed that thought, trying to think about Kenzie instead. It would be much more productive to crush on the new girl than his very popular best friend.

What Anthony didn't know was that when Stephanie sent him that text, she wasn't telling the whole truth. Yes, she was with some of her friends, but she was also cheering on a few of the football players while they were making fun of the gay kid, Zane.

"Hey, you little faggot. Fucked any good guys recently?" one of them asked conversationally.

His friend hit him on the back. "You're an idiot. He doesn't fuck guys; he _gets_ fucked."

The other football players burst into loud guffaws while Zane slammed his books together in an effort to drown them out. He didn't like the bullying, but he'd taught himself to be okay with it - he was confident in his sexuality and had been since he'd came out. It didn't mean he appreciated being surrounded at his locker and having rude and immature comments thrown in his face.

"Hey. Look at us when we're talking to you," one of them snapped, kicking Zane. It didn't hit with much force, but Zane winced nonetheless. He didn't look up.

"He's so full of himself," a girl muttered and there was a smattering of agreement. "Look at him. He doesn't even think he needs to respond to us."

"Hey," a voice said roughly, and two hands grabbed Zane's shoulders, forcibly pushing him against the lockers. He gasped as air was forced out of his lungs and closed his eyes, turning his head away slightly.

Zane knew this guy. Douglas was a good football player but a terrible homophobe. He acted like every single gay or lesbian had come out of the closet just to personally torture him and he had to beat them back into the closet for the sake of the world or something. Out of all the bullies, Douglas was probably the only one Zane couldn't even feel a little pity for.

"You're a fucking blemish to society," Douglas growled. "I can't believe you're even willing to show your face in school."

Zane opened his eyes, stared directly at the harasser's misshapen nose, and declared, "Your breath smells like dead fish."

He heard a mixture of disapproval and amusement from the onlookers. He opened his mouth to continue the insults, but a quick punch in the stomach cut off his breath and he grunted in pain instead.

"You're going to hell," Douglas told him. Zane could feel little drops of spit landing on his face as the football player spoke and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "God hates gay faggots like you. It's in the Bible. You don't deserve His love. You're going to rot in hell and I'm going to enjoy every second of it."

"Isn't God the only one who can judge people, too?" a female voice cut in. Surprised, Douglas let go of Zane, who lost his balance and fell to the floor.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Douglas snarled at the girl. She was tan and dark-haired. Zane was pretty sure she was a junior, although he couldn't recognize her.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Don't I?" She glared at Douglas, her lip curled into a slight sneer. Then she turned to address the rest of the football team and cheerleaders. "You all need to cut this shit out. I'll bet at least one of you is gay and just doesn't have the guts to out him or herself. I bet at least one of you has done something you know would get you bullied." Several guys and a sizable amount of the girls looked down nervously.

She scoffed. "At least Zane's brave and confident enough to come to terms with himself and be honest with everyone. You're all lying to yourself and everyone around you because you're scared. Grow some balls, will you? You all make me sick."

They all walked away, some sheepish, some angry. One guy muttered "bitch" as he passed, but the girl just flipped him off.

"Thanks," Zane said, watching the bullies as they left.

The girl shrugged. "It's no big deal. They really do make me sick."

Zane grinned, getting to his feet. "Yeah. But really, thanks. Being surrounded by homophobes makes you think there aren't any people who support gay rights anymore."

"I know what you mean. I know you're Zane. I don't know if you know me, but I'm Brooke, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Brooke."

She cleared her throat. "I know it may sound like I'm totally stereotyping gays, but do you like singing and dancing and music and stuff?"

Zane nodded, his face lighting up. "I love it, actually."

"I saw this sign-up sheet for Glee Club on the way here. Auditions are later today and I thought it might be pretty cool if we both joined."

"Glee Club?" He'd never thought about it, although now that he did, it sounded like a pretty good idea.

"Yeah. It's like show choir or something. There's a lot of performing and singing and dancing and stuff, so I thought you might like it."

Zane smiled. "Of course I'll audition! I already have an idea for a song, too. Where's the sign up sheet?"

"Go down that way and turn left. It's, like, two doors down or something. Actually, you know what? I'll show you," Brooke said, gesturing for Zane to follow.

James had just heard the rumors about that boy named Zane getting saved by Brooke. He and Brooke had met before, and he thought she was pretty cool.

He looked back down at his book just as someone sat down across from him. He glanced up, recognizing the face but finding himself unable to identify it. The girl dropped a sizable pile of books on the table.

"Hi. I'm James Masterson, and I see you like to read."

He promptly cursed himself for what probably seemed the worst pick-up line in the history of pick-up lines. Fortunately, the girl didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah, I know," she said shyly. "I'm Alyssa Monroe, and yes, I do love to read."

As soon as she said her name, it clicked. She was the girl who'd come out of the closet last year. It had completely destroyed her social status and she'd been teased for the rest of the year. It looked like things had settled down over the summer or people had forgotten; he hadn't heard anything about her since school started.

She saw the recognition dawn on his face. "I guess I have a reputation around here, being lesbian and all," she said quietly.

James blinked. Then he immediately waved his hands in protest, letting his book drop to the ground.

"No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just nice to meet you in person. Rumors don't give you any idea of how a person is actually like." Especially since rumors had painted her as a fat, mousy-haired, irrevocably masculine girl who could never ever be mistaken for a straight person and basically broadcasted "forever alone". James had known that people would twist facts to suit their opinions.

Alyssa offered a small smile. "Thanks," she all but whispered.

"Any time," James replied, bending over to pick up his book.

The two of them read in companionable silence. After a few minutes, James began thinking about bullying in schools, how victims were generally alone. Then he considered Alyssa. He glanced up at her again, deciding just to tell her that she at least had some support.

"Hey, A-Alyssa," he said, and she looked up.

"Look, I know we just met, and most of what I know about you are rumors. But I know this school and I know that you - you probably had a r-really hard time last year." He was starting to stutter, so he cleared his throat and took a deep breath before he continued. "So - so I just wanted you to know that I've got your back, okay? I think you're a really g-great girl and - people should learn to look past your sexuality."

She stared at him, wide-eyed, for a couple of seconds. James vaguely wondered if he'd said something wrong when he realized that, most likely, no one had ever told her something like that before. It made him feel a little proud and more than a little sad.

She smiled weakly. "Thanks," she said. "I really appreciate it." Her cheeks slightly pink, she looked back down at her book.

There was a loud _thunk_ as a bag was swung onto the table. James and Alyssa both looked up, surprised.

A somewhat androgynous Asian boy stared back at them. "Sorry," he whispered.

James shook his head. "Nah, it's okay. You just surprised us."

"Is it okay if I sit here?" His voice was a lot higher than James had expected.

"Of course. I'm James, by the way."

The boy smiled shyly, sitting down and taking out a rather thick textbook. "I'm Aubrey," he said.

James couldn't quite recall knowing anyone named Aubrey, although he was certain that name popped up a couple of times in the rumor mill last year. "Are you a sophomore?" he asked. "I don't think we've ever met, even though I think I've heard your name before."

Aubrey stiffened. "Last year, that football player told everyone that I was gay and going to hell," he said shortly.

"Don't take it personally; he does that to everyone," Alyssa said softly. "I'm Alyssa, by the way."

"But I'm _not_ gay. Not that I have anything against gays," he backtracked, glancing at Alyssa somewhat guiltily.  
"It's fine," she replied.

Aubrey looked conflicted.

Trying to change the subject, James pointed at Aubrey's textbook."What class is that for?"

Aubrey glanced down at it and groaned. "AP Calc. The school only offers AB but it's not too much of a difference between AB and BC, so I'm trying to self-study BC. By the way, do either of you know what Glee Club is?"

Alyssa shrugged. "I think it's a singing group. McKinley had a good one a couple of years ago but it died down."

"It looks like someone's trying to restart it, though. There's flyers about it littered all over the school."

James thought for a second. "Actually," he said slowly, "I think it might be fun just to try out."

Aubrey perked up. "Do you wanna audition with me? You too, Alyssa."

Alyssa looked doubtful.

"Come on," James said. "It'll be fun! The other kids will probably be really accepting and you could make new friends. Even if you don't sing well, just audition with us for the heck of it."

She looked torn for a minute, but then sighed and nodded.

"Yay!" Aubrey squealed, clapping his hands "We should pick songs soon, though, since auditions are later today."

Shocked by his sudden enthusiasm, James could only nod in agreement.

* * *

This update happened a lot later than I had originally planned, and I'm sorry. The first week of school really put me of track. I hope to update a least once a week, and that's the worst possible situation. Hopefully I will have more time than I've had this week.

Special thanks to **MaldrianLuver13** and **my pain be creepin, **they have really helped me so much and I couldn't be more thankful for them!

**I need you to PM me or leave in your review two things!**

1. A song that describes your character! If they were to pick a song that best describes them, what would it be? Any genre of music is fine!

2. Any ideas for a musical for the school to do! I have a few ideas, but I want to hear yours. I need ideas that have a least a few main roles, just so I can equally distribute them. You can also let me know **three** different parts you would want your character to have. I say that because not everyone can be the lead role.

So please leave those two things in a PM or review! I hope you liked this chapter, and after this we have audtions and then the first week of Glee Club!


	7. Author's Note PLEASE READ!

Hey guys! I owe you all a huge apology. It's been three weeks since I updated, but everything has been so crazy lately. I started at a new school, my great-grandmother died, my computer broke, and I've been dancing 3 extra hours a day getting ready for performances and competitions. I know, those excuses are terrible. I have a lot of ideas for this story, but it's hard to find time to get them all on the computer. I have the next chapter written and sent to my beta's, but I sent it on Monday and still haven't gotten a reply. **If there is anyone who is interested in editing the chapter today or tomorrow, please let me know. The faster someone helps me out, the faster it gets posted. **

Also, for the the next chapter after this one, I need you to send in a picture that describes your character. It needs to relate to their song they're singing about themselves. If you want to change the song, feel free. I will only use about 5-7 pictures/songs to please let me know soon!

I decided not to do an audition chapter since there are so many characters in the story. At the beginning of the upcoming chapter will be a list of who says what.

Again, I'm am very sorry for the delay. I have great plans for this story and I can't wait for you to read them!

Thanks,

mstaylormaeclark


	8. Fights and First Day Of Glee

**Important A/N at the bottom! PLEASE READ! **

* * *

**Eric's POV**

I was standing by my locker, Marissa said she would meet me here after class, when I saw a tiny girl walking down the hallway. She was  
wearing a pale pink dress that looked absolutely perfect on her. Her  
green eyes met mine, and she smiled and waved. I motioned for her to come here, and I watched her get hit by some big guy who obviously didn't care that he had just smacked the small girl in the forehead.

"Hey. Yes, I'm talking to you." I walked over to him. I wasn't really thinking, I just wanted the guy to pay for what he had done to the girl who was standing by my locker, now looking a little scared.

"Oh, look. It's the new kid. Yep, the one that's in Geek Club. Be careful, we might catch some of his gay disease if we stand to close."

Wow, this guy really thought he was something, huh? I might just have to teach him a little lesson. I punched him in the face and all of friends backed away, not one stepping up to defend him.

"You need to learn something, you little dickhead." I said while holding him up against the locker. "First," I punch him in the face again, "You never hit a girl without apologizing. I'm pretty sure her head is going to be bruised for at least a week now." Second, I punch him in the stomach, "It's Glee Club. Not geek, not gay, not any other stupid ass name you could come up with. Glee." Third, I kick him in the crotch, "You need to realize that you and your little group of friends are not the most important people on the planet. You're the losers, not these other kids who will actually make it out of this fucking town." Then, I  
started punching him some more. Remember, I definitely wasn't using my brain. Suddenly, a hand pulled me off of the little dumbass who was still on the ground.

"Eric, stop. Get up and walk away," Mr. Schue said. He looked at me sternly and said, "You're not in any trouble this time, but next time you will be. You understand? I know you were just sticking up for Kenzie, but you better not get so intense next time, okay?" Eric nodded. "One more thing, I know you already have a girlfriend, Marissa, right? Please don't break Kenzie's heart. She may  
look strong, but I can tell she's been through a lot. So just stick with Marissa for right now. I'll see you in Glee today." And with that, Mr. Schuester walked away. I jogged to my locker, where Kenzie and Marissa were now standing.

"Sorry for making you guys wait. Mari, if you want to go on down to the gym, I'll meet you there." Marissa smiled and kissed me for what seemed much longer than necessary.

When she was finished, she said, "I'll see you there in a minute, Ere-Bear."

Once she had walked away, I turned to Kenzie. I found her staring after Marissa with a funny expression on her face. "You okay, Kenz?"

She looked up at me, "Yeah. I'm fine." I looked deeply into her  
gorgeous eyes and could tell that she was far from okay, but I didn't  
want to push anything.

"I was going to talk to you about a song for Glee, but I kind of got distracted," I say, running my fingers through my hair.

"Eric, it's fine. Is there any other time we could talk?"

I thought for a moment, "Maybe tonight? You could come over to my place, if you want."

Kenzie's eyes lowered to the ground as she said, "Marissa already told me about your date. Look, I have to go. But maybe we can work something out for this weekend? We can talk about it later." She started to walk away, but I grabbed her arm.

"Kenz, I'm sorry we didn't get to talk for very long, I really am. I promise I'll make up for it, okay?"

She smiled at me, "Okay, Eric. I really have to go now or I'll be late for class." She walked down the hallway, and I knew that I would make it up to her. Even if she didn't want me to, I would do it just to spend more time with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Marissa's POV **

I was walking towards Eric's locker and frowned when I didn't see him  
there. Fortunately, I saw Kenzie, who I had been waiting to talk to. I  
glanced down at her, and I swear she shrunk a bit when she was me.  
Good, I like having that kind of power.

"Hi, Marissa," she said in a voice not much louder than a whisper.

"Hey, dwarf. I'm glad I found you, I have some things to tell you. First, what are you doing standing by my boyfriend's locker?" She answered.

"He waved me over to talk to him, but then...something else came up, I guess." She pointed to the end of the hallway where Eric was currently beating this kid up. Oh well, I'll see what that's about later. I've got other things that need to be done right now.

"Whatever. So, onto the next question, why the hell do you think it's okay to stare at Eric all day. You wanna know something? He doesn't like you. He will never like you. You're not nearly as pretty as me and definitely not as popular. You don't have what guys like. You will never find someone who likes you, I swear. You just skip around and smile like everything's okay. Well, guess what, sweetheart? It's not. And you're never going to find a guy who will have any interest in you if you keep believing that everything is perfect, because it's not. It's about as far from it as your face is." By the time I finished talking, the small girl was staring at the ground. I want her to understand that she isn't good enough, so I keep talking. "Quit staring at your ugly shoes, thinking this is my fault. You're the one that's never going to be good enough. I'm just the one who's nice enough to tell you the truth. So back off Eric, he's taken. But, even if he wasn't, he would never date someone like you. You're just so fake, I know you must be really screwed up to not even let people see the real you."

She looks up at me with red eyes and says, "Okay. I believe you. I'll back off, I'll never speak again if you don't want me to. I swear."

"Good," I say, giving her my Cheerio smile. Just then Eric walks up and apologizes for taking so long. He tells me to go ahead and meet him in the gym, so I say yes and kiss him for as long as I can. I give Kenzie a look, just to remind her of how much she sucks, before walking to the gym. Eric walks in as I'm warming up, and a smile at him. "Hey, Ere-Bear."

"Hey, Mari. Sorry, I just had to clear some stuff up." I frown, remembering the midget.

"That reminds me, why the hell were you talking to the weirdo?"

His eyebrows bunch up on the top of his head, she has to admit he looks absolutely precious when he's confused, and says, "Who? Are you talking about Kenzie?"

"Duh, Eric. Why do you keep talking to her?" I say, I'm starting to get frustrated.

"She's my friend, Mari. Don't call her that. And I talk to her because she's nice. You're the only person I know that doesn't like her. Why?"

"Well, Eric, because she's not as great as she seems. She's too happy  
and peppy. She's obviously a fake. And I'm not, so you should spend  
your time talking to me. Okay?"

Eric let out a deep breath, and ran his hands through his hair. "Okay, whatever. But I still have to talk to her for Glee, because we have to discuss our ideas. Other than that, I'll stay away from her as much as I can. Deal?"

I smiled, because I loved getting what I want, "Deal."

He looks at his watch and then says," I've gotta go change into my uniform or I'll have to run laps for being late. I'll talk to you later, Mari." He kissed me on the cheek before running to the locker room.

**Third Person POV **

As soon as the last person entered the room, Mr. Schuester started practice. "Welcome to Glee Club! I am so happy to see every one of you here. I can tell we are going to have an amazing year. I've noticed that not all of you know each other. So, for our first assignment, you need to sing a song about yourself. It can describe your personality, your feelings, your life, even the kind of music you sing. But you must bring in a picture of you doing whatever your song is about. Sound cool?"

All of the students nodded their heads and were talking amongst themselves, getting ideas for their songs. Mr. Schuester dismissed them early and everyone left very quickly to go to practice for sports or music lessons.

Anthony was running in the parking lot to his car after Glee. Rain was pouring down, and he didn't want to get wet. Abigail has a meeting that was only for freshman, so she was getting a ride home with one of her friends later. He saw Kenzie walking towards the street, and realized she must be walking home. He hopped in his car and drove over to her. "Kenzie, are you walking home?"

She looked up from the ground and replied, "Yeah. I only live about a mile or two away, and my dad has to stay late at work tonight. He doesn't get off until eight."

"And your mom?"

Kenzie looked away and said, "She's on a business trip in California. She won't be back for a few months, at the least."

"I'm sure you miss her a lot."

Kenzie nodded, "I do."

Anthony then realized that she was still standing out in the rain, and started to feel bad. "Let me take you home. Please, I don't want you walking out here. You might get sick, and I wouldn't want you to lose that amazing voice for any amount of time."

Kenzie smiled, "That's very nice of you, Anthony."

After Kenzie got in the car and told him her address, she felt bad because it was on the opposite side of town from his house. "Are you  
sure? I don't want you to go out of your way for me."

Anthony saw how bad she felt and they reached a red light. He reached for her chin to pull her face up to meet his. "Kenzie, I promise it's okay. I would do it for you any day." He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her face so his lips meet her face.

"Thank you so much, Anthony. I need to go ahead and get home." Anthony was disappointed he didn't get to give her a real kiss, but decided he could wait until a later date.

He decided to make conversation. "So what do your parents do?"

Kenzie looked out the window. "My dad owns a restaurant, Lisa's, it's new here but he had a few other restaurants back in Nashville. My mom, well, she works for a research company. She has to travel a lot, you know, because she's doing research on airplanes and rockets and stuff."

"That's cool. Is it hard, not having your mom around?"

"Yeah, it is. She's been traveling since I was about 10, so I've gotten used to it." They have pulled into her driveway now, and Anthony sees tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Come here," he pulls her into his arms. "I'm sure she loves you and misses you, too. You'll see her soon, you're going to be okay. And when it feels like it's not going to be okay, I'm gonna be here. Okay?"

She smiles up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Thank you so much, Anthony. I should probably go inside now, I have a lot of homework. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She kisses his cheek slowly, and then goes inside.

She turns around and waves bye, and Anthony waves back. As he drives away, he can't wait to see her again. What he doesn't know is what she's doing now…

* * *

**Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter. I will be featuring about 3-5 characters per chapter, just because I understand them more when I get to write about them more. So don't worry if your character wasn't in this chapter, they will be in the story very soon! **

**A special thanks goes to ****_Sparkling Ducks1357_********for helping me with this chapter. It's because of them that this chapter is up! I will never be able to thank you enough :)**

**To clarify questions about the pictures:**

**-The picture needs to relate to the song. If the song that is describing your character is about their personality, it needs to be a picture of them smiling, running around, performing, etc. If it is about how they like to do something, it needs to be a picture of them doing that thing. If it's about a person, it needs to be a picture with that person in it. **

**-The picture does not have to be a real picture of their celebrity look-a-like. The point is for the character to show the club what they love doing, because these kids don't know each other. **

**-I won't use everyone's picture, but I will be using most of them. So please send them in! **

**Please review! ****In your review, it would be great if you could answer these questions, just so I can see what you like and what you don't like.**

******1. Who is your favorite character so far? Who is your least favorite? **

**2. Who is your favorite couple or people you would like to see together?**

**3. What did you guys think about "The New Rachel"? Love it or hate it? **

**Sorry for the super long AN, but thank you if you read it all! **


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